THE SECOND PART: A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
The First Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians
Message Five—The Excelling Gift for the Building Up of the Church—Prophesying
Scripture Reading: 1 Cor. 14:1, 3-5, 12, 24-26, 31-32, 37, 39
I. Prophesying is the excelling gift produced in the growth in life through the enjoyment of Christ for the building up of the church—1 Cor. 14:12; Matt. 16:18; 1 Cor. 14:4b.
II. Prophesying in 1 Corinthians 14 is not in the sense of predicting, foretelling, but in the sense of speaking for the Lord, speaking forth the Lord, to dispense Christ into people—vv. 1, 12, 39a:
III. God’s desire is for all of His saints to prophesy—Num. 11:29; 1 Cor. 14:31.
IV. Prophesying is the excelling gift among all the gifts, making its seekers excelling—v. 12:
A. Prophesying is excelling in revealing God’s heart, God’s will, God’s way, and God’s economy to His people—cf. 12:8.
B. Prophesying is excelling in convicting people, exposing people’s real condition, and showing people their spiritual need.
C. Prophesying is excelling in speaking forth Christ to minister and dispense Christ to people for their nourishment.
V. All the believers have the capacity, the ability, to prophesy, and all have the obligation to prophesy— 14:31, 24:
A. The capacity to prophesy is in the divine life, which the believers possess and enjoy and which needs to increase within them so that this capacity may be developed unto their ability—Col. 2:19; cf. 2 Tim. 4:5.
B. The obligation to prophesy is the fulfillment of our spiritual service, in which we are indebted to God’s salvation—Rom. 1:14-15.
VI. All the believers have been charged by the apostle to pursue, to seek, and to desire earnestly to prophesy— 1 Cor. 14:1, 12, 39a:
A. We are enabled to prophesy by learning (v. 31) in the Word of God, in the growth of life, and in our contact with God—2 Tim. 3:16-17; 1 Thes. 5:17-20; Gal. 5:16, 25:
1. We need to be revived every morning—Prov. 4:18; Lam. 3:22-24; Psa. 119:147-148.
2. We need to live an overcoming life every day by calling on the Lord’s name in every place and living in the index of His eyes—1 Cor. 1:2; 12:3b; 2 Cor. 2:10.
3. To live an overcoming life is to live a prophesying life by loving the Lord to the uttermost (1 Cor. 2:9), fellowshipping with Him moment by moment (cf. 1 John 1:6), walking according to the spirit (Rom. 8:4b), and speaking the word of the Lord in season and out of season (2 Tim. 4:2a).
B. We are enabled to prophesy by being perfected by the prophets—Eph. 4:11-12.
C. We are enabled to prophesy by practicing to speak in all the meetings and by telling people about Christ—1 Cor. 14:26; Phil. 2:16a; 2 Tim. 4:2a, 5.
VII. In order to practice 1 Corinthians 14, there is the need for the highest meetings of the church, meetings in which “each one has”—v. 26:
A. The proper church meeting is a “one another” meeting, a “round table” meeting, in which we speak to one another (Eph. 5:19), teach and admonish one another (Col. 3:16), consider one another and exhort one another (Heb. 10:24-25), and listen to one another (1 Thes. 5:20).
B. The proper church meeting makes the believers living by developing their organic ability and function—Eph. 4:16.
C. Before coming to the meeting, we should prepare ourselves for the meeting through our experience of the Lord or through our enjoyment of His word and fellowship with Him in prayer.
D. After coming into the meeting, we need not wait, and should not wait, for inspiration; we should exercise our spirit and use our trained mind to function in presenting what we have prepared to the Lord for His glory and satisfaction and to the attendants for their benefit—their enlightenment, nourishing, and building up.
E. We must labor on Christ, our good land, so that we may reap some produce of His riches to bring to the church meeting and offer to God—Deut. 16:16.
F. Thus, the meeting will be an exhibition of Christ in His riches and will be a mutual enjoyment of Christ shared by all the attendants before God and with God for the building up of the saints and the church.
VIII. We must speak with the three constituting elements of prophesying:
A. We must possess a knowledge of the Word of God—the human element of learning—2 Tim. 3:16-17; Ezek. 3:1-4.
B. We must have the instant inspiration of the Holy Spirit—the divine element of inspiration—1 Cor. 14:32, 37a; 1 John 1:6-7; Rom. 8:4.
C. We must have a vision concerning God’s interest and economy, concerning the church as the Body of Christ, concerning the local churches, concerning the world, concerning the individual saints, and even concerning ourselves—the view through the enlightening of the divine light—Eph. 1:17; 1 Cor. 2:11-12.
D. We speak what we see with the living words of this life under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and with His enlightenment—Acts 5:20.
E. For the sake of the building up of the church, we need to build up a habit of speaking the word of the Lord by letting His word dwell in us richly—Col. 3:16; cf. 1 Tim. 6:20.
Ministry Excerpts:
THE SUPERIORITY OF A PARTICULAR GIFT FOR THE
BUILDING UP OF THE CHURCH
As Paul was writing chapters twelve, thirteen, and fourteen of 1 Corinthians, there was a burden in his spirit and on his heart concerning certain crucial matters: speaking, the Spirit, the Body, God’s administration, and love. These five matters are emphasized in chapters twelve and thirteen. In chapter fourteen Paul comes to another main point: the superiority of a particular gift for the building up of the church. Among the many spiritual gifts, one is superior not for our work, maturity, or spiritual interests, but for the building up of the church. As we shall see, this superior gift is that of prophesying. Therefore, in dealing with the gifts, Paul emphasizes six matters: speaking, the Spirit, the Body, the administration of God, love, and the gift which is superior for the building up of the church.
Paul’s ultimate concern is not speaking, the Spirit, the Body, God’s administration, or love as the excellent way to exercise the gifts. Rather, Paul’s ultimate concern is the building up of the church. Paul was very church-conscious and church-centered. His concern was focused on the church.
In Colossians 1:24 Paul says, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings on your behalf, and fill up that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for His Body, which is the church.” Christ died not only for redemption, but also for the church. According to Ephesians 5:25, Christ gave Himself up for the church. Yes, Christ died to accomplish redemption. Redemption, however, is a procedure; it is not God’s goal, God’s destination. Redemption is a way to reach the goal, but the goal is the church.
Because the church is God’s goal, we cannot agree with those Christians who neglect the church and who have only a superficial grasp of Christ’s redemption. Many do not even like to hear the church mentioned. But the death of Christ mainly and ultimately is for the church.
In eternity we were chosen and predestinated by God. Because we fell away from God, there was the need for Christ to accomplish redemption in order to bring us back to God. But redemption is not God’s goal; it is not His ultimate intention. God’s goal, His intention, is to have His chosen people organically united to be the Body, the church. Even if we had not fallen, it nevertheless would have been necessary for God to carry out a certain procedure to obtain the church.
When I was young, I was told simply that Christ came because we had fallen into sin. I was taught that God loved us and gave His only begotten Son to save us. According to this understanding, if we had not fallen, it would not have been necessary for Christ to come. But it is a mistake to think that God’s intention is merely to redeem us from hell to heaven. God’s intention is to have the church, and the death of Christ redeems us so that we may become His Body. This was the reason Paul was church-conscious and church-centered. In his consciousness the church was an extremely crucial matter.
As we consider the spiritual gifts, we need to ask what the gifts are for. Many Christians care only for the gifts, but they do not care for the purpose of the gifts. Some desire to have a gift of preaching, and others desire the miraculous gifts such as the gift of tongue-speaking or the gift of healing. But they may not care at all what these gifts are for. Paul was different. The concern deep within him was for the building up of the church. He knew what gifts were useful for the building up of the church. We need to learn of Paul to be concerned for the building up of the church. Whether we are spiritual, mature, or gifted is secondary. The primary thing in God’s economy is the building up of the church. Paul’s emphasis, his main point, in chapter fourteen concerns what gift is best, not for us, but for the building up of the church. Yes, God has given many gifts, but not all gifts are important with respect to the building up of the church. Therefore, in this chapter Paul shows us which gift is superior for the building up of the church.
THE SUPERIORITY OF PROPHESYING
Prophesying Building Up the Church More
Pursuing Love and Desiring Earnestly Spiritual Gifts, but Rather to Prophesy
In 14:1 Paul says, “Pursue love, and desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but rather that you may prophesy.” This charge is based upon the revelation in 12:31 through 13:13. To pursue love is to seek after the growth in life for the development of the gifts in life. Hence, it must be matched with an earnest desire for the most profitable gift, the gift of prophecy.
Paul was very wise, and he composed verse 1 in a wise manner. In this verse he was not actually encouraging the Corinthians to seek such gifts as healing, miracles, and tongue-speaking. Instead, Paul’s intention was that they would seek the gift of prophecy. However, Paul did not tell the Corinthians to forget all the spiritual gifts except the gift of prophecy. He told them to desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but rather, or especially, that they would prophesy. He wanted them to pursue what was best, what was most valuable. He knew that there was turmoil among the Corinthians and that they needed to be calmed down. For this reason, he exercised wisdom, telling them that love is the best way to exercise the gifts and then charging them to pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that they may prophesy.
Since to prophesy is to speak for the Lord and speak forth the Lord, that is, to minister Christ to others, which is the main thing in the church meeting, prophesying requires the divine life to fill it as its content. Love is the excellent way to experience the divine life and make it the content of the gift of prophecy for the building up of the church. Hence, we must pursue love and desire earnestly these greater gifts.
The Comparison between Speaking in Tongues and Prophesying
In verses 2 and 3 Paul says, “For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God; for no one hears, but in spirit he speaks mysteries. But he who prophesies speaks to men for building up and encouragement and consolation.” The apostle’s word in verses 2 through 6 gives a clear and definite view that speaking in tongues is much less important than prophesying. He strongly belittles the gift of tongues and exalts the gift of prophecy because his main concern is the church, not the individual believers. Speaking in tongues, even if it is genuine and proper, only edifies the speaker himself, but prophesying builds up the church. To prophesy in revelation or to teach in knowledge with clear, understandable words is more profitable to the church than to speak in tongues with unknown words. Since to prophesy, to speak forth the Lord, ministers Christ to others, it builds them up and gives them encouragement and consolation.
I would like to emphasize the fact that in the New Testament to prophesy is not mainly to predict, but mainly to speak for the Lord and to speak forth the Lord. Even in the books of Isaiah and Jeremiah prophesying is not mainly a matter of prediction, but of speaking for God and of speaking God forth. Of course, the element of prediction is included. Throughout the Bible, to prophesy means to speak for God and to speak forth God and, in a secondary way, to predict. To prophesy is to tell for, to tell forth, and also to foretell. This is a proper understanding of prophecy in the Bible. To prophesy in the sense of telling for and telling forth requires much growth in life. For this, we need to know God and we need to experience Christ. If we do not have the adequate knowledge of God and experience of Christ, we do not have anything to say for Him, and we cannot speak Him forth. To prophesy in the sense of foretelling, of predicting something before it happens, is miraculous and does not require the growth in life.
To repeat, in 1 Corinthians 12 and 14 the noun prophecy and the verb prophesy do not mainly refer to prediction; they mainly denote speaking for God and speaking forth God. Nevertheless, many of those in today’s Pentecostalism or charismatic movement place great emphasis on the element of prediction and neglect the more important matters of speaking for God and speaking God forth.
In verse 4 Paul continues, “He who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but he who prophesies builds up the church.” To prophesy, to speak for the Lord and speak forth the Lord, not only builds up the individual saints, but also builds up the church. Tongue-speaking, on the contrary, does not build up the church. In verse 5 Paul goes on to say, “Now I desire that you all speak in tongues, but rather that you may prophesy; now greater is he who prophesies than he who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, that the church may receive building up.” What was on Paul’s heart was not that the Corinthians would seek the gift of tongue-speaking; it was to encourage them to prophesy so that the church might be built. Paul’s burden was the building up of the church. This was the concern deep in his heart.
In verse 6 Paul asks a question: “But now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, what shall I profit you, unless I speak to you either in revelation or in or in prophecy or in teaching?” This implies that speaking in tongues does not profit anyone except the tongue-speaker. Here we again see Paul’s wisdom in writing to the Corinthians. He knew they were in turmoil, and he spoke to them with a certain amount of carefulness in order to calm them down. He pointed out to them that he would not profit them unless he spoke to them either in revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching.
How Much the Apostle Is Concerned with the Building Up of
the Church and the Saints
In verse 7 Paul continues, “Even lifeless things, whether flute or harp, in giving a sound, if they give no distinction in the sounds, how will it be known what is played on the flute or on the harp?” The apostle’s illustrations in verses 7 through 11 indicate that the Corinthian believers abused speaking in tongues by doing it in a nonsensical way, uttering an “uncertain sound” (v. 8) of “no distinction” (v. 7), “without significance” (v. 10). They also overused it by practicing it in any place, in any way, and in any situation. Hence, Paul corrects and restricts them from their abuse and excessive use of such a small gift of the least profit, that they may seek the greater gifts and abound in the building up of the church.
In verse 7 Paul is definitely indicating that the Corinthians should cease uttering meaningless sounds. Today many practice tongue-speaking in a meaningless way. In many cases those who speak have no idea what they are saying. In verse 8 Paul asks, “For if indeed the trumpet gives an uncertain sound, who will prepare himself for battle?” Among many Pentecostal people today, no one can prepare for battle, because there is no definite direction. In verse 9 Paul says, “So also you, unless you give by the tongue an intelligible word, how will it be known what is being said? For you will be speaking into the air.” The tongue here refers to the physical tongue, not to a language or dialect. Certainly in this verse Paul is not encouraging the practice of tongue-speaking. Verse 10 says, “There are, perhaps, so many kinds of voices in the world and not one without significance.” In Greek the word rendered voice is the same as sound in verse 7 (the singular one) and verse 8. Here it denotes voices, that is, languages.
Verse 11 continues, “If then I do not know the meaning of the voice, I shall be to him who speaks a barbarian, and he who speaks a barbarian to me.” Literally, the Greek word rendered “meaning” means power, force. The Greek word translated barbarian, barbaros, means foreigner, that is, a non-Greek, one who does not speak Greek. “Supposed to be originally a descriptive word of those who uttered harsh, rude accents.…Later, the word took the sense of outlandish or rude” (Vincent).
In verse 12 Paul declares, “So also you, since you are zealots of spiritual gifts, seek that you may abound to the building up of the church.” From this verse we see that the Corinthian believers were not only zealous; they were zealots. They had become such persons.
In verses 13 and 14 Paul continues, “Wherefore let him who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful.” For our spirit to be used and exercised in prayer is surely healthy to our spiritual life. But for our mind to be unfruitful and unused is absolutely unhealthy. We must exercise our regenerated spirit with our renewed mind in praying to the Lord. Our mind should be set on our spirit (Rom. 8:6), never detached from it, even in our daily walk, needless to say in our prayer. Our prayer must be from our God-contacted and God-contacting spirit and through our sober and understanding mind, with clear and understandable words, that our prayer may touch God, nourish and strengthen ourselves, and build up others.
Verse 15 says, “What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray also with the mind; I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing also with the mind.” Paul’s word about praying “also with the mind” implies that he encourages the receivers of his letter to pray not merely in an unknown tongue, but also with clear and understandable words.
The phrase “with the mind” does not mean with the mind only and not with the spirit at all. In Ephesians 6:18 the apostle charges us to pray at every time in spirit. Prayer is worship, which should be in spirit (John 4:24). When we pray with the spirit, not in an unknown tongue, but in understandable words, our mind is automatically used to interpret and express the thought of the spirit. What the apostle means here is that in the church meeting, for the profit of all the attendants, we should pray with our mind in intelligible words (1 Cor. 14:19) to express the burden in our spirit. In a church meeting our prayer should not only be heard by the Lord for His answer, but should also be intelligible to all the attendants for their profit. For this purpose we should also learn to use our mind in public prayer as we do our spirit, training our mind to cooperate with our spirit, even to be one with our spirit, that the spirit may become the spirit of our mind (Eph. 4:23).
Verse 16 continues, “Otherwise, if you bless with the spirit, how shall he who fills the place of the unlearned say the Amen at your giving of thanks, since he does not know what you are saying?” This reveals that in the church meetings during the apostle’s time, when one prayed all the others said Amen, even “the Amen,” at his prayer.
In verse 17 Paul again indicates how much he is concerned for the building up of the church: “For you indeed give thanks well, but the other is not builded up.” This indicates that not only our prophesying and teaching in the church meetings should build up others, but also our prayers and thanks to the Lord. This shows how much the apostle is concerned with the building up of the church and the saints. His word in this verse is not only a correction but a charge. (Life-Study of First Corinthians, msg. 61)
HOW TO FUNCTION IN THE CHURCH MEETING
For Each One
In verse 26 Paul says, “What is it then, brothers? Whenever you come together, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.” “Has,” used five times in this verse, is the translation of the Greek word echo, a word widely used, with many meanings, three of which are the main ones: (1) to hold, to possess, to keep a certain thing; (2) to have a certain thing for enjoyment; (3) to have the means or power to do a thing. The first two meanings should be applied to the first three of the five things listed in this verse—a psalm, a teaching, a revelation—and the third meaning to the last two—a tongue and an interpretation of a tongue. This indicates that when we come to the church meeting, we should have something of the Lord to share with others, whether a psalm to praise the Lord, a teaching (of the teacher) to minister the riches of Christ to edify and nourish others, a revelation (of the prophet, v. 30) to give visions of God’s eternal purpose concerning Christ as God’s mystery and the church as Christ’s mystery, a tongue as a sign to the unbelievers (v. 22) that they may know and accept Christ, or an interpretation to make a tongue concerning Christ and His Body understandable. Before coming to the meeting, we should prepare ourselves for the meeting with things like these from the Lord and of the Lord, either through our experience of Him or through our enjoyment of His Word and fellowship with Him in prayer. After coming into the meeting, we should not wait for an inspiration; there is no need to wait. We should exercise our spirit and use our trained mind to function in presenting what we have been prepared with to the Lord for His glory and satisfaction and to the attendants for their benefit—enlightening, nourishing, and building up.
This is like the feast of tabernacles in ancient times: the children of Israel brought the produce of the good land, which they reaped from their labor on the land, to the feast and offered it to the Lord for His enjoyment and for mutual participation in fellowship with the Lord and with one another. We must labor on Christ, our good land, that we may reap some produce of His riches to bring to the church meeting to offer. Thus, the church meeting will be an exhibition of Christ in His riches and a mutual enjoyment of Christ shared by all the attendants with one another before God and with God for the building up of the saints and the church.
According to the stress and emphasis of this Epistle, all five things listed in this verse should be focused on Christ as God’s center for our portion and the church as God’s goal for our aim. The psalm should be the praise of God for giving Christ as wisdom and power to us for our daily life and church life. The teaching from a teacher and the revelation from a prophet should teach and minister Christ with the church as His Body to others. A tongue and its interpretation should also have Christ with the church as its center and content. Any emphasis on things other than Christ and the church will confuse and distract the church from the central lane of God’s New Testament economy and make the church like that in Corinth.
In verse 26 Paul tells us that everything should be done for building up. Whatever we do in the church meeting must be for the building up of the saints and the church. To exhibit Christ and to enjoy Him in our meetings for the building up of His body must be our unique purpose and goal.
Paul Says that “Each One…Has”
In verse 26 the word “has” is very important. According to Paul, whenever we all come together to meet, we should have something. Paul does not say “shall have” or “should have”; he speaks in the present tense to denote the fact and says that we have something, that each one of us has something. Furthermore, he does not say that just a few have, that many have, or that most have; he says that “each one has” something. He then mentions five things in the following sequence: a psalm, a teaching, a revelation, a tongue, an interpretation. This list is not all-inclusive; it is illustrative. He mentions a psalm first, and tongues and interpretation last. He lists tongues and interpretation last because in this chapter he is mindful of the building up of the church for God’s administration.
The fact that Paul mentions a psalm first indicates that in the meeting of the church praising the Lord must be primary. A psalm is somewhat equivalent to a hymn. In today’s Pentecostal movement there is the singing of Bible verses. However, most of the verses are from the Old Testament. I doubt if there has ever been singing concerning Christ as the mystery of God or the church as the mystery of Christ. Have you ever heard that those in a Pentecostal meeting sang Ephesians 1, 3, or 4? We need to write music that we may sing these chapters and other portions of the books which make up the heart of the divine revelation: Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians. We need to sing about how it pleased God to reveal His Son in us; about Christ living in us and about the fact that we have been crucified with Him; about walking in the Spirit and according to the regulation of the Spirit; about the need for a spirit of wisdom and revelation so that we may know the hope of God’s calling, the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and the greatness of His power exercised to raise Christ and set Him in the heavens; about the church being the fullness of Christ, the One who fills all in all; about the need to be strengthened into our inner man by the Spirit of God with might so that Christ may make His home in our hearts and that we may comprehend with all the saints the universal dimensions of Christ unto the fullness of God; about one Body, one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father of all; about walking in the truth of Jesus so that we may put off the old man, put on the new man, and be renewed in the spirit of our mind to have the reality of the new man; about the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ; about magnifying Christ, living Him, being found in Him, pursuing Him, and having the excellent knowledge of Him; about Christ, the Beloved, as the image of the invisible God, the Firstborn of creation. Let us learn to sing verses from these four books as well as from Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, and Hebrews. In our singing we need to be brought up to the standard of the New Testament economy.
Our hymnal contains more than thirteen hundred hymns. When we compiled the hymnal, we selected hymns which God had given to His people throughout the centuries. This proves that we are far from being sectarian; on the contrary, we are all-inclusive. But now we must go on to write more hymns and songs on the completing ministry of Paul and the mending ministry of John. We need a collection of songs on Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, and Hebrews. We also need songs and hymns on the Gospel of John, 1 John, and Revelation. Let us sing hymns written on John 15 about abiding in Christ and Christ abiding in us. Let us also sing about the seven lampstands, the seven lamps of fire, and the flowing river in the book of Revelation.
Having Christ with the Church as Its Center and Content
In our singing and in the use of our hymnal, we should not be traditional. Our singing and praising should not mainly be of God as the Creator or of His dispensations in dealing with mankind, but mainly of His New Testament economy. For example, we need to sing concerning the processed Triune God. I hope that in the years to come there will be a great change in our singing and in our hymnal as well. In our singing and praising we are still somewhat under the influence of tradition. Regarding this, we need to leave the traditional way and absolutely return to God’s New Testament economy.
The believers at the time of Paul may have sung the Old Testament Psalms. The writers of the Old Testament did not have a clear revelation concerning the church as the mystery of Christ. Since this matter is no longer hidden, we need to write hymns concerning it based on the revelation in the New Testament. Paul has written fourteen Epistles, and we need to sing them. However, we may be held back by the atmosphere and influence of traditional Christianity. Once again, I encourage you to write hymns on the New Testament economy. Let us sing hymns about Paul’s completing ministry and John’s mending ministry.
After saying, “Each one has a psalm,” Paul goes on to mention a teaching, a revelation, a tongue, and an interpretation. The teachings must be according to the teachings of the apostles, and a revelation must show something which has been hidden but is now revealed. In the meetings we need a word of teaching and also a word of revelation. We have pointed out that the teaching from a teacher and the revelation from a prophet should teach and minister Christ with the church as His Body. In principle, the same must be true of tongues and the interpretation of tongues: they should have Christ with the church as the center and content. This means that they should be centered on Christ as the mystery of God and the church as the mystery of Christ, not on other things. The proper tongue-speaking should be concerning Christ and the church. This is based upon the context of the entire book of 1 Corinthians, a book which speaks of Christ as the wisdom and power of God and the deep things of God and of the church as the Body to express Christ and as the means to carry out God’s administration. (Life-Study of 1 Corinthians, msg. 63)